European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen told journalists on Tuesday that he would be “open” to consider changes to update competition law in order to cope with the strong competition of US and China firms, but discarded reforming “entirely” antitrust rules as they worked “well”.

The maker of France's TGV trains announced Tuesday (26 September) a "merger of equals" with German industrial leader Siemens in a giant and politically tricky deal to create a new European rail champion.

A Moscow court has rejected a request by Siemens to seize its gas turbines, which have turned up in Crimea contrary to EU sanctions, and to ban their installation ahead of preliminary hearings next month, the court's ruling showed on Sunday (20 August).

The European Union on Friday (4 August) imposed sanctions on three more Russians, including Deputy Energy Minister Andrei Cherezov, and three Russian companies over the delivery of Siemens' turbines to Moscow-annexed Crimea.

A firm part-owned by German firm Siemens was preparing to install electricity turbines in Crimea despite prohibitive EU sanctions. The issue was brought to the attention of Brussels and Siemens on Monday (10 July).

British Chancellor George Osborne took the UK’s argument for a renegotiated relationship between his country and the EU to the capital of the continent’s strongest economy on Tuesday – promising to back a stronger eurozone if London’s conditions were met.

The German government voiced support on Monday for a deal between Siemens and France's Alstom, saying mooted plans for a swap of energy and rail assets could offer "great opportunities" for both countries.

Europe's wave and tidal power technology is likely to disappoint EU expectations for 2020 and take over a decade to contribute to energy supply in a significant way, even though it is chalking up rapid growth and drawing in big industrial investors.